“And my mother—” Muriel's voice cracked. “She felt him die. Through their mate bond. Every moment of it. And then she had to keep living, keep maintaining thewards he'd taught her, all while carrying his death in her soul.”
Silence filled the room.
“Oh, Muriel,” Ana whispered.
“She lied to me my whole life,” Muriel said, sniffling. “She let me believe my father was a mage who made promises he didn't keep. That he had abandoned us. And now I find out she was protecting me from the truth because it was too painful to talk about.”
Ryssa's eyes sparkled like smoky diamonds. “And now you understand why people keep painful secrets.”
The parallel hit Muriel like a fist to the chest.
Her mother had lied to protect her from unbearable truth.
Brandon had hidden the bond because—why? Because he thought she couldn't handle it? Because he was afraid she'd run?
“It's not the same thing,” Muriel said, but her voice wavered.
“Isn't it?” Tedi asked gently. “Both were trying to protect you from pain. Both were wrong to take that choice from you. But both did it out of love.”
Muriel pressed her hands to her face.
“The question is,” Ryssa said quietly, “which hurts more? That your mother didn’t tell you the truth about your father? Or that Brandon hid the bond?”
Muriel had to think about that. Really think.
Her mother's lie had robbed her of knowing herfather's sacrifice. She’d grown up believing she was the daughter of a man who didn't care enough to stay.
Brandon's lie had robbed her of... what? Knowledge of something she couldn’t change and would have only sent her spiraling? The bond had formed accidentally. He hadn't created it deliberately. He'd just hidden it after.
“I don't know,” she whispered. “I'm angry at both of them. But my mother's dead, so I can't even talk to her about it.”
Jessie pulled her close. “You can still be angry. You can grieve what you didn't know.”
“And you can be angry at Brandon and still love him,” Ana added softly.
“I don't love him,” Muriel protested automatically.
Five knowing looks met hers.
“Okay,” Dani said. “Let's try this. If the bond disappeared tomorrow—if you woke up and it was just gone—how would you feel?”
Muriel opened her mouth. Closed it.
The thought of losing that constant connection, that warmth in her chest, that sense of him?—
“Devastated,” she whispered.
“There you go. That's not the bond talking,” Jessie said. “That's you.”
Muriel sat with that for a long moment.
“What do I do?” she finally asked.
“What do you want to do?” Tedi countered.
That was easy. She wanted to run into Brandon’s arms, feel his body and his magic wrap around her, and not think about secrets or surges or Collectors. What she said was, “I want to know if he sees me as someone who needs to be protected and managed—or as an equal.”
“Then ask him,” Ryssa said simply.